The warm night air mixed with the rain, leaving James’ shoulders almost feeling dry, in spite of the heavy drops that hammered his body. He and Josh had led the others back to the camp making sure that everyone avoided the structure that hid the dead body. Not unexpectedly, there was little objection and the group fanned out to the other huts to get in out of the storm.
James was exhausted. He and Josh approached one of the huts on the far edge of the village, Josh piping up over the drum of the rain. “Do you think mom is ok? I mean, you don’t think she’s...” He trailed off.
James stopped and looked back at the younger man and tried to force a smile. “Let’s not give up yet. We’ll try again in the morning, but we both need sleep. And something to eat.”
Josh nodded and rubbed his head gently, the wound had stopped bleeding some time back, but the area felt angry and bruised. Carefully he slid the bandage off of his head and tilted his neck back, letting the rain pelt him in the forehead and run down the sides of his face.
He groaned faintly and caught up to James, ducking out of the weather and into the dry interior of the hut. He slumped down onto the ground against a wall and flipped open the backpack he took from the crash site then pulled out a couple candy bars and a bag of chips.
He thought back to his little sister as he ate, staying back home with their dad, while Josh had gone with their mom. The separation had been a few years before, but him and his sister had been in the middle of a custody battle ever since.
James cut through his musing with a light hand rested on his shoulder. “You doing ok?” He was snacking too and took a sip of the canteen, then offered it.
Josh sighed, accepting the offering. “I wanted to go with mom, but Sam didn’t. She wanted to stay with dad. I was just thinking, that she could have been out here too if she’d come.”
The older man stared off into nowhere then once again met the teenager’s thoughtful gaze. “How old is your sister?” His tone was soft and he spoke calmly, trying to distract Josh from everything that was going on around them. As far as it seemed, it was working.
“She’s nine.” He answered with a half smile. “Ten in a couple months.” Josh laughed as he spoke. “And she hates the outdoors. Not me. I love it. Dad used to take me camping when I was her age.”
James listened quietly, occasionally nodding along and doing everything he could to keep his chewing a silent action.
“Do you have a little sister?” He asked, taking a small bite of the partially melted chocolate bar.
The older man shook his head. “Older brother. He... well, we don’t speak much anymore.” He opened his mouth to continue, when one of the other survivors called out. He turned to the doorway and stood up, his arm outstretched signaling Josh to stay put. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”
Josh nodded in response, swallowing the mouthful of chocolate and trying to see past James and outside in the hopes of discerning what was going on. The older man rushed out and over the rain, he could faintly hear people talking.
James spotted Allan and the others standing in the rain, watching the bushes for something. “What’s up?” He asked.
Bradley pointed to the spot in the bushes. “Allan said someone came out and attacked him while he was doing his business. Said he got bit.”
James looked between Bradley and Allan. “And this guy said he was bitten?”
The dark skinned man shook his head. “No. The man bit Allan. Took a chunk out of his arm. We got it wrapped up. Cleaned up as much as we can, but that guy is still out here.”
The whole thing just felt off somehow. Almost as if James was in the middle of some kind of practical joke and he struggled to believe what he was being told. “Someone came out of the jungle and took a bite out of Allan?”
The other man just nodded, looking back to Allan nervously as he scanned the tree line. Allan had a pole in his hand and used it to prod at the plants, trying to spot his attacker. “Come out now so we can talk.”
The rain started to die down and the group almost a whole looked upward at the parting clouds. Stars and the moon shown brightly and James shook his hands off to try and dry them. He couldn’t shake the feeling though, that this was just the eye of the storm.
He looked back to the bushes with just enough time to see a blur of movement lunge out and grab Gary. It looked like a person, but James couldn’t quite make out who it was or what they looked like as they were dipped in shadow. Gary yelled in protest and James could have sworn that the attacker bit his neck.
Allan struck the attacker with the pole he carried and James dashed in, grabbing the stranger by the back of both shoulders in an attempt to wrench him back. He could see the blood that ran from Gary’s neck and the stranger went in for another bite and that’s when the smell hit him.
It was the same smell from the shed the day before. It was the smell of death.
Again he tried to pull him free and when the attacker finally went with him, Gary fell to the ground with a muffled groan and the stranger went sideways in the opposite direction with a stumble.
Gary clutched at his bleeding neck and his wife ran up to comfort him, tears streaming her face as she knelt and held her husband close. Deep crimson seeped over the front of his shirt and mixed with the rainwater on the ground, making an inky black mixture by the light of the moon.
The stranger struggled to his feet like a drunk, stumbling and letting out a mournful and low-toned moan. James cringed, seeing the man more clearly. The ragged clothes it wore were stained and streaked with mud and his exposed flesh showed heavy signs of rot.
James backed up, holding his hands up to ward it off. “Stay there. We’ll help you, but just stay back, ok?”
The only response was another moan.
Allan swore. “Do something with that maniac!”
James nodded absentmindedly, his attention focused on the stranger as he shambled closer. “I said just stay back!”
Again it moved toward him and this time raised its arms to take hold of James, who backed off and drew the gun from the back of his pants and pointed it a the assailant. “I said hold it!”
The attacker took another stumbling step forward and James squeezed the trigger, a loud shot piercing the night. The bullet struck him in the chest and he stumbled back, but stayed on his feet and resumed the approach as if the wound meant nothing.
The crowd looked on horrified with morbid fascination, Bradley exclaiming over the surprised muttering of the group. “You have a gun?”
James ignored the question, restating his demand at the attacker. “Stay back, for fuck’s sake!” And squinted as he fired the weapon in his hands again and again. There was a collective scream of surprise coupled with a small explosion, followed by a hollow click and when he opened his eyes the attacker was crumpling to the ground with a jagged hole in the center of its face.
The man looked on disgusted and with shaky legs he took a step back and bent over, throwing up. He’d never shot anyone before and the movies made it look so clean. He never thought for a moment he would ever have to and now that he had, he wished he could take it back. His mind replayed the scene over. He threw up again.
Josh’s surprised voice tunneled through to him, “Another one?”
James looked up quizzically, still feeling nauseous. “Another?” Then he immediately turned to the shed that they all avoided on their return. Without hesitation, he ran over and stepped inside, Josh following on his heels.
The young man, stunned by what was happening simply added, “I didn’t think you’d believe...” then trailed off. James was only half listening and checking the ammo in the gun. He knelt down net to the corpse in the shed and looked the body over, noting the gunshot wound to the head and then down the uncovered arms and stopped. Even with the level of decay, it was clear that there were signs of bite marks; the flesh torn in chunks and the impressions of teeth were visible along the edges.
They looked like human teeth marks.
He thought back to his encounter outside, mentally going over the attacker and was certain he saw similar wounds. There was so much grime that it was hard to be positive, but he was sure enough.
James’ face blanched as he thought about it and started to look around the body. Josh chimed in, “What are you looking for?” but James carried on, unhearing. The body had a holster on its belt for the gun and a pouch and with caution he opened it with his free hand, reaching inside. His fingers felt what he was looking for and when he withdrew from the body, he finally responded.
“Bullets.”
There were only four more and he quickly opened the chamber on the revolver and dumped the spent casings among the others on the ground and loaded the new bullets into the gun.
The man had likely been attacked then backed himself into the shed, shooting at his attackers from the doorway; reloading at least once. He probably had died quickly from his wounds, but from what James could see and what he had witnessed only moments before, he guessed it had been the same thing. It explained why there were no other bodies around, not because something dragged them off, but because they simply walked away on their own.
Outside in the village square Bradley yelled out “Danny!” and James jumped to his feet and ducked back outside. He wasn’t prepared to see Gary, now back up and moving and attacking the man’s son with the same conviction that the stranger had.
It all fell into place.
It was the bites!
James rushed over and put all of his weight into a shoulder check and knocked Gary off of the young man, but all too late. The boy was already dead, a dark blotch of blood growing on his torn clothing.
Bradley dashed forward toward his son and James tried to hold him back. “Don’t you see? It’s an infection! It’s spread through the bites!”
The mourning father didn’t care. He struggled free from James and went to his son’s aid while Gary shuffled back to his feet. James tried to put space between them, but Gary closed in on him too quickly.
Everything happened in a blur as Gary’s wife ran forward to help, to stop her husband from his unnatural assault. She stepped between the aged military man and his intended victim who held the gun rigidly before him. The shot rang out and immediately James knew he missed, thankful for not wanting to hit the frantic woman, but having missed, she was then within reach of her husband’s needy grip. She cried out as he sunk his teeth into her shoulder, trying to fight back.
James backed off, checking over his shoulder at the father and his son and making sure that he had room to move around.
Josh ran over to Bradley and tried to pull him up, but he flailed his arm up and hit the younger man, causing him to stumble. James ran over to help him and they each grabbed hold of one of the father’s arms. “It’s too dangerous! C’mon! We can’t help him now!”
Bradley wouldn’t listen and fought back, trying to stay with his son. “He’s alive! His eyes are open! He’ll be ok!” He was grief stricken and James knew that no amount of verbal coaxing would snap him out of what he believed.
The two men wrenched hard on Bradley’s limbs and the force pulled him up and back, but Danny rolled over lazily, taking hold of his father’s ankle. With a hunger-filled moan, he sunk his teeth into the meaty part of his Bradley’s leg and forcing out a cry of pain and sending him tripping and falling to the ground. Danny immediately moved over top of him and Josh pulled James out of the way.
“Look!” Josh yelled, pointing to Allan. Allan too had succumbed to the disease and was shambling forward like a drunk. Unseeing, cloudy white eyes and blindly reaching forward for the nearest victim.
James nodded, knowing he didn’t have enough ammunition to shoot them all and slid the gun back into his belt. “We have to run for it!”
They each made a run for it, leaving the slow moving forms behind easily, James taking occasional glances over his shoulder.
The two of them started away from the camp, but James suddenly stopped and turned back. “We need the map! Stay there!” He called out as he jogged back. He ran past the congregated mass of ravenous infected and into the hut where Gary and his wife had been, then started shuffling through the meager pile of belongings that had been saved from the crash site.
“James!” Josh called out and James looked up and out of the doorway, seeing the former survivors approaching slowly.
His attention went back to his search and he smiled when he found the journal, tucked neatly into one of the backpacks, along with a container of water and climbing equipment.
He closed the top on it, clipping it shut and slung it over his shoulder.
Outside Josh called to him again and when he looked up he saw that the group of infected were now within a meter of the doorway.
“Shit,” He muttered and ran outside, narrowly missing the reaching grasp of one of them as he ducked to the side, passing between two others. He grunted as he dodged them and hurried to put distance him and their pitiful moans, pointing Josh into the jungle. “Go! Just go!”